Williams damages local NAACP and Roger Stone's reputations with remarks

Benny Williams’ guest opinion (“Dorchester Conference guest an insult to Dr. King’s memory" on April 4) is an opportunistic manipulation, designed to get publicity at the expensive of honest political discourse.

As the Dorchester Board member who arranged for Roger Stone to appear, I feel obligated to set the record straight.

Stone is a firebrand, controversial, flamboyant and a provocative figure – which makes him a wildly entertaining speaker who fills seats and generates buzz.

He has publically marched in support of civil rights for the LGBTQ community. This would not have been possible without Dr. King’s example and sacrifice, and is most definitely part of the “broader campaign in pursuit of equal civil rights for all people” that Williams cites.

The assertion that Stone was at the conference “throwing down white nationalist hand signals,” is as much an urban myth as the widely-held assertion that Dr. King was a Republican (he was not).

Williams was referring to the “OK” symbol made in a photograph which was adopted as a sign of support for President Donald Trump because of his use of the gesture when making a point.

One only has to go on to Snopes.com or Google “white nationalist hand signal” to see this widespread manipulation has been widely discredited. One of the only places you’ll find affirmation is on websites affiliated with Antifa – which frequently clashes with the group of men from the photo taken in the bar adjacent to the conference.

Roger Stone is a lot of things, but a white nationalist is not one of them. When people Like Mr. Williams with the NAACP speak on behalf of their organizations to manipulate the public with dishonest rhetoric, they damage not only their own reputations, but those of whom they represent.

Patrick Sheehan is a member of the Dorchester Board of Directors. Reach him at 503-380-9480.